


The Commodities of Friendship

by ladysockalot



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Related, Friendship/Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 23:51:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1166113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladysockalot/pseuds/ladysockalot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After D'Artagnan rescues Athos from the fire Athos find hope and comfort in the arms of his friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Commodities of Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> Written post-episode three. A what if as to what happened after D'Artagnan rescued Athos from the fire. Thanks to Magog83 for her encouragement.

They cling to each other breathing the deep, fresh air. The smell of the smoke still reaches them as the flames dance higher and higher.

Burning away the past, Athos thinks. A past he had thought he had forgotten, even if he had not quite forgiven it. 

There's a different warmth coming from D'Artagnan, a young man with hope still in his eyes, not yet jaded by the burdens of duty. He cannot possibly understand Athos's need to fill his veins with wine. 

"I thought she was dead... I thought it was a dream," Athos says, smoke in his lungs making his speech harsh. It hurts to say the words, a stark reminder that he's alive. Alive and guilty.   
He was judge and jury, if not quite executioner. It was justice for Thomas, for his brother, though it tore his own heart in two. And now the death that weighed so heavily on his hands isn't present. Yet the weight of it remains, a ball and chain around his neck.

"Athos," D'Artagnan says,quietly, calmly, even as he holds him tighter. His grip is strong, comforting. "You're alive."

"Sometimes I wonder..." he stares, staring as his once home burns. He doesn't have to say the rest. 

He looks at the flames and back to the man who saved them from him. "You..." but he can't say anything more as he reaches up to cup D'Artagnan's cheek even as his hand remains fisted in his friend's shirt. 

Then there's the heat of the fire reflecting at them, and Athos can't quite recall how it happens through the lingering fog of wine, but then he's kissing D'Artagnan. He remembers kisses from long ago in fields of forget me knots and he blinks back the emotion.

He focuses on the here and how. He feels D'Artagnan pull him closer. They both need some comfort this night. They push against each other, an odd sort of wrestling full of gentle touches even as they pull and tug at each other. 

The ground is hard and unyielding as he's pushed onto it but Athos wants to feel down to his bones. It's nothing like the finesse he once shared with the softness of a woman, it's raw and real and painful, a wound that's been ripped open but one that needs air. There is no need for Aramis's needlework as their blood races toward each other. 

The guilt is still lapping away at Athos and he thinks about duty and what he is doing. Musketeers though share a bond that none else can understand and he knows that D'Artagnan, new as he is to their world, knows this. 

Their actions are gentle and friendly. Their kisses never lose their potency. The taste of wine competes with something much more pure and raw. With each grasp and thrust of their bodies Athos feels his head begin clear, the doubt and confusion being pulled from his mind. 

It's a perfect moment finally and in that moment he finds all his release. He is underneath D'Artagnan who is covering, a shield against the world. Athos can still smell the burning be all he can see is the beautiful expressive face of his saviour. 

A gentle touch and then it's all over. Athos is left staring at the stars as D'Artagnan rolls off, panting. 

"You shouldn't regret your duty," D'Artagnan says, his breath so warm it can be seen in the night air. 

"We all have regrets," Athos says.

Then D'Artagnan's hand is in his gripping firmly and tightly, the stars are shining above them and Athos finds that something is kindled in his heart that he thought he had lost.

Hope.

And that is word to build a future on.


End file.
